


Shoulder To Cry On

by Circuit



Category: Death end re;Quest
Genre: F/F, Gen, Implied Relationships, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 13:30:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18032624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Circuit/pseuds/Circuit
Summary: After finding Shina in tears, Lily wants to assure her their friendship goes both ways in supporting one another.





	Shoulder To Cry On

**Author's Note:**

> During the scene in chapter 2 where Shina is having a tearful reunion with Tokiwa via the private chat, I couldn't help but wonder what Al and Lily were thinking, as from their perspective Shina would have just started crying out of nowhere. And because I adore Lily's crush on Shina, this is what my mind came up with. I hope you enjoy. :)

Lily Hopes couldn’t sleep.

It wasn’t exactly her fault. The half-beast girl that she and Shina Ninomiya had recently recruited, Al Astra, had a habit of snoring. Of course, Lily wouldn’t say it’s Al’s fault that she was awake, either. It was certainly no fault of the girl’s that she snored. And to be honest, it was a little cute. But like so many things in Lily’s life lately, this was just going to take some adjusting to.

Lily rolled over onto her side, staring over to the other side of the tent where Shina’s sleeping bag was set up. Only to see that the adventurer wasn’t in it. Sitting up, Lily looked around. Sure enough, she and Al were the only two in the tent.

“Shina?” Lily asked in a nervous whisper. According to the merchant that was letting them camp here, Rook, the Martyrs that were infesting the shipyard never came into this room. No need to wake Al up if there wasn’t an actual emergency.

_But what if she is in trouble?_ Her memories of Shina collapsing in pain after they defeated that giant Entoma back in Heartis immediately rose to her mind. And once that thought occurred, the memory of the Entoma killing her father followed suit.

An inadvertent, shuddering breath escaped Lily’s lips and she sat up. _Shina’s fine. She’s probably just using the bathroom, or maybe the snoring drove her outside…_

Slowly, Lily crawled out of her sleeping bag and, taking one last look at Al to make sure her slumber wasn’t disturbed, slipped out of the tent.

The utter silence of the shipyard and the tent’s surprisingly good sound insulation made it so Lily heard the crying immediately. It was soft, but still sounded rather messy.

_Shina?_ Lily peered around the corner to the table, where Shina sat with her back to her, the girl sobbing and repeatedly rubbing at her nose. Lily reflexively placed a hand over her own heart, pulling back out of sight and closing her eyes in thought. _Oh my God, she’s crying. Why is Shina crying? Is she hurt, or-_ Lily found her thoughts come to a crashing halt as she failed to come up with a potential emotional reason for Shina’s tears. _I… don’t know anything about her, do I?_

She opened her eyes, gazing down at the ground, and rubbed her own arm. _She gives so much to me, and I unloaded all of the pain I’ve been through to her. I’m ashamed to have never noticed her own pain. Despite the Entoma curse marking her as well, I thought only of myself, all while she smiled and supported me…_

Letting out a gasp, Lily rushed over. “Shina!”

“L-Lily?” Shina stuttered in surprise as the queen of Heartis pulled her into a hug.

“I’m so sorry, Shina,” Lily whispered, her tone gentle as she stroked Shina’s back. “I never realized that you might be hurting as well. I feel I’m a failure as your friend. Please, don’t feel as if you’d be a burden. You are more than welcome to open up to me.”

“Um… y-yeah?” Shina stuttered, her face heating up. “D-did you hear me crying?”

“A-ah,” Lily let go, drawing back with a frown. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude if you wanted privacy, it’s just… You offered your shoulder to me if I needed to cry, Shina. In the short time I’ve had the honor of knowing you, you’ve always been a rock supporting me. I just want to return the favor.”

“Lily…” 

“Do you… want to talk about what’s upsetting you?”

Shina reached up, rubbing the last of the snot dripping from her nose, and brushing back some of her messed up hair. “I… don’t think it’s something I can talk about…” _How could I explain to Lily that I was crying in joy at hearing a friend's voice again after so long?_

“I see…” Lily’s face fell.

“Ah, Lily, it’s not that I don’t trust you with it!” Shina hastily added, reaching up to grab Lily’s arms. “I just… have no idea how I’d say it.” Her face quickly flushed into a full red. _Sumika and Mizunashi are still watching, aren’t they?_

_She's so cute when she blushes…_ “Is it embarrassing?”

“Um, n-no, I’m just… With you and…”

Lily’s face seemed to be trying to match Shina’s in shade. “W-with me…?”

Shina quickly shook her head and gave one of those smiles that made Lily melt inside. “N-never mind. I… really appreciate you being here, Lily. Knowing that I can turn to you if I need it is a big help on its own.”

Lily’s lips twitched before growing into a smile to match Shina’s. “Of course. Shina, I-”

“Hm?”

Lily paused, before closing her eyes, pulling Shina into a hug. “I really appreciate you being here, too.”

Shina giggled, returning the hug.

Lily’s face was now radiating heat, as her smile faltered behind Shina’s shoulder. _She was just crying, Lily! Queen or not, you shouldn’t ask her out here and now!_

“ _Aw, Shina, you made a friend?_ ”

Hearing Sumika’s voice in the private chat prompted Shina to hide her face in Lily’s twintails, desperate to suppress a flustered groan. _I knew they were watching…_

“...Are you feeling better?” Lily finally managed to ask after a while.

“Mhm…” Shina nodded, keeping her gaze down.

“Shall we return to the tent and get some sleep, then?” Lily asked, standing up from where she was kneeling and extending a hand to help Shina up from her seat.

Shina seemed to tremble slightly as she took Lily’s hand, letting her help her up and lead the way back to the tent. 

Once they were inside did Shina manage to look up at her again. “Thank you, Lily…”

Lily gave a pleased hum, which soon became a yawn as she settled back into her sleeping bag. “Goodnight, Shina…”

Shina gave a tired smile, climbing into her sleeping bag and shifting to look at Lily. _Even if she was wrong about why I cried, I’m still so glad to see she’s just as kind as I envisioned her to be. But… is that kindness really just the Alice Engine? Her feelings seem too warm for that…_ She gave a yawn, Al’s dull snoring quickly easing her eyes shut. _Maybe I shouldn’t question it and just count my blessings…_

And with her thoughts losing focus of anything but her royal friend, Shina fell asleep. And at the sight of her smiling as she dozed, Lily made it past Al’s sounds and into slumber as well.


End file.
